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Kerrakulpa
Kerrakulpa '''kârĭkoolpə, often referred to as '''The Destroyer '''or simply '''Kulpa, is a god that appeared when creation began, unprovoked by Maruma and unique in construction. In nearly all depictions, Kulpa is seen as an objectification of destruction. Kulpa is commonly depicted as an immeasurably large dragon, who in purpose represents death and rebirth, being a personification of the cycle of time. The oldest noted depictions describe Kulpa as one of five ephemeral deities who govern the course of existence, where his name roughly translates to "death and return" Origin and History In the Theogeny Kerrakulpa's history is a point of contention and debate among many accounts. In the Theogeny ''Kerrakulpa (or "Kerrakos", as written in the text) is claimed to have appeared at the moment time began. When Maruma triggered the flow of aether, Kulpa emerged from the epicenter of the event already formed, shrieking into the void and agitating the aether as he disappeared into the distance, ignoring Maruma entirely. His presence is not mentioned either during the formation of Yarnayari or the world itself. The Ephemerals In Iroloi, ancient lithographs were discovered that have been dated to the age of gods and the first age of mortal civilization (see Pangaera Timeline). These depictions describe Kulpa as kin to and a member of a series of five divines referred to in the ''Theogeny as "Ephemerals". Naclex noted the similarities when compiling his studies between Kerrakos and what the Iroloi natives referred to as "Kalpa" as the eternal spirit of the cycle of destruction and rebirth. Kalpa is depicted in this region similarly as a massive dragon, although as described this is simply an objective description of what is otherwise a force of existence itself, as opposed to an actual, physical divine. The difference posits that each Ephemeral is reborn with the universe save for Kalpa, who stays alive to ensure existence is reborn after he destroys it. These accounts refer to all other divines as children of creation, and no greater than mortals. Each Ephemeral carries with them a unique aether and property, and Kalpa's property is the ability to take a physical form. Divine Cataclysm During the first age of Pangaera, Kulpa had been recovering from the event Maruma had triggered at the beginning. Well into the start of the second generation of gods, he had rediscovered the world, following the coalescence of aether. He landed with a force so powerful it split the land to pieces and shook the planet beneath him. The first of these "new" gods he encountered was the youngest daughter of Yarna, Suma, the great boar, and immediately attacked her. The clash shook the ground beneath them and Kulpa had taken advantage quickly. His overwhelming aether had infected Suma, and unable to purge it, she quickly sank into slumber. Before he could slay her, Caevus had arrived to defend her. Alone, he was little match for Kulpa either, and the dragon cut the heron deep, scattering his blood across the land and leaving him with his sister, cut and bleeding. This battle alone caused the birth of three new divines from the turbulence of Kulpa's unique aether clashing with the Primordials. From there he searched the land, spreading war and destruction while seeking Yarna. Other divines had blamed one another for Caevus and Suma's failure, and the entire world fell into chaos and despair amid the broken lands. It was not until the divine Oshana had brought the other Primordials together with an appeal to life, did the divines manage to oppose the dragon. As his own blood spread, dragons had been borne from the scars of the land, a reflection of his form and his disdain for life. Kulpa's brood had appeared in great number, overwhelming the divines and their mortal children, as Kulpa reached Yarna and began to assault them. The fight between dragons and divine threatened to shatter the land entirely until Maruma had arrived. From there, the texts describe the divines as simply disappearing, Kulpa included, one by one over a very short period. After the war Kulpa had wrought, the mortals had been spared and ceased their own fighting. This event is historically recorded as the end of the First Age of Deeds, or The Age of Gods. The Dragonkin While the divines had been recorded as disappearing (this account is hotly debated), many dragons had been left behind after Kulpa's disappearance. Borne of his own aether, these creatures are antithesis to mortal kind and are, if left alive, biologically immortal. Somewhat intelligent but excessively solitary and violent, dragons posed a major threat from time to time in nearly every region and age. One of the divines produced from his influence was Aberros, a king of demons, and the son of Suma. Aberros had taken to influencing Suma's native mortal race of orcs wherever he found them and corrupting them into his own twisted forms. During the second age, many demons had arisen and nearly destroyed the world's entire population of orcs in the process. Aberros had staked a claim in what is now Harnoth and set his armies to continue the destructive force of Kulpa before he was challenged and ultimately defeated by Annodine (see Aberros) and forced into an otherworldly trap. Demons became a rarity for a time after, and few are even speculated to exist in later ages, as Aberros had to produce them directly. Where Suma and Caevus first fought with Kulpa in what is now Cragspire, the event had a violent effect on the living aether of the planet. Leaving a permanent mark, this event is described as the cause of undeath and undying, which had become a natural occurrence as a result (see Undeath). Dragon Clans of Saliira throughout the ages, numerous minor cults have appeared in different forms worshiping Kulpa or dragons. In the late Third Age of Deeds, one grew to great prominence and power. In what is now Delingard, in the Saliiran mountains, existed a clan of adherents to the dragon god. An unnamed monk had formed the order around a lost knowledge of the aether of dragons and how it related to undeath. With it, they were able to infuse this corruption into the eggs of wyverns, and instead of it killing them or turning them to undeath, they grew into actual dragons, borne of the same aether as Kulpa. With these dragons, the Saliiran clan raised and bonded to them, using them as powerful allies and quickly taking over the land around them. The influence of Kulpa soon led them to destructive tendencies, and the clan, as led by its last grandmaster and her bonded dragon, Erenroth, set out to find and free Kulpa and Aberros. The threat was soon overseas, and entire regions and empires were slowly losing to the destructive power of these bonded dragons. These clans were eventually challenged by a mercenary trade city on the coast of Gielen led by the hero Androkoles. In defiance against the threat he renamed the city Dragonreach, and set out with an army from across the entire continent to face the clans at their mountain. The details of this trial are recounted in Tacitus' epic poem ''Montem Draco ''where upon Androkoles reached the top and sacrificed himself to slay Erenroth and his master, leaving the world to recover from what became marked as the end of the Third Age of Deeds. Androkoles had since been immortalized as a god of war and solidarity for his sacrifice.